Rotatable ice tray



Feb. 20, 1962 c. c. BAUERLEIN ROTATABLE ICE TRAY 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 4, 1959 1271 22: far (284 C 5405?; 5/

Feb. 20, 1962 c. c. BAUERLEIN 3,021,694

ROTATABLE ICE TRAY Filed May 4, 1959 s Sheets-Sheet :5

3%, zM, aw; bra k Unit; rates This invention relates to a novel ice making apparatus and the method of manufacturing same and more particularly relates to a pivotal ice tray which is adapted to be disposed Within the usual household refrigerator for automatically making ice blocks and dispensing the same into a collection tray.

This invention is especially directed to pivotal or rotatable ice trays of the type wherein the ice tray is constructed with a plurality of ice molds formed therein facing in different directions and having common walls which are so arranged that upon filling of an upwardly facing mold with relatively warm water, heat will be transferred from the water filling the upwardly facing mold to the surfaces of a downwardly facing mold through the heat conducting walls of the ice tray to effect gravitational ejection of the ice blocks from the downwardly facing molds.

Ice trays operating on this broad concept have been constructed in the past but difficulty has been encountered in effecting gravitational ejection of the ice blocks from their respective molds due to the fact that it is diflicult to transfer a sufiicient amount of heat to the ice block engaging walls of the ice tray to break the bond between the frozen ice blocks and the ice tray.

In ice trays which have ice molds facing in three different directions about a common axis and wherein the shape of each separate mold is substantially equiangular in cross-section, only one wall of the two base walls of the molds engaging the ice blocks disposed therein is common to the upwardly facing mold which is filled with the relatively warm fluid. The basic problem has been to provide a means for transferring sufficient heat through the ice block engaging wall of the ice tray from the wall which is not common to the upwardly facing wall to melt the surfaces of the ice cube in juxtaposition thereto to effect gravitational ejection of the ice blocks.

I have devised a two-sided ice tray which may be pivotally mounted within the freezing compartment of a normal household refrigerator or the like which is so arranged that a minimum surface area of an ice block is disposed along walls which are not common to the two molds so that a maximum amount of heat may be transferred to the ice block engaging surfaces of the ice tray from the heat of relatively warm water filling the upwardly facing mold.

The ice tray which forms the subject of the present in vention is so arranged that approximately two-thirds of the base wall engaging surfaces of the ice cubes are disposed in engagement with a wall common to the oppositely facing mold so that a high degree of directheat transfer through a common wall can be effected.

Heat conducting fins or partitiom'ng walls are disposed in the ice tray in spaced relation from one another to define separate molds for a plurality of ice blocks and serve not only to divide the individual molds from one another but to conduct heat from one mold to another to aid in freeing the ice cubes from their respective molds.

Since ejection of the ice blocks is efiected by heat conduction, it has been found desirable to form the ice tray of aluminum or some other known heat conductor to obtain the most satisfactory results.

In an ice tray of the type described above, it is, of course, highly desirable to so form the ice tray that it be- 3fi2lfi94 Patented Feb. 20, 1962 comes one integral member inasmuch as heat must be transferred from point to point throughout the tray.

In view of this fact I have devised a means for manufacturing such a pivotal ice tray so as to form a rigid unitary structure in a simple and economical fashion.

The method of manufacturing such an ice tray, which will hereinafter be set forth in more detail, comprises generally the formation of each of several interlocking components which are constructed of aluminum but which have a brazing sheet or film formed over the entire surface thereof and assembling the same and thereafter placing the assembled tray in a brazing furnace. It has been found desirable to use pure aluminum as a core for the ice tray and to use an aluminum alloy such as a compound of silicon and aluminum for the coating so that the brazing sheet will have a melting temperature lower than that of the aluminum core. Thus, by placing the ice tray in a brazing furnace the brazing film or sheet on the ice tray will melt and flow into the joints of the several interconnected members and thereafter upon removal of the ice tray from the brazing furnace and upon cooling of the ice tray the silicon aluminum compound will fuse to form a single rigid member.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a pivotal ice tray having a configuration adapted to facilitate the ejection of frozen cubes therefrom.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a pivotal ice tray wherein a maximum percentage of the base wall engaging surfaces of the cubes within the tray lie along base walls which are common to the ice mold to be filled.

A further object of the invention resides in the method of assembling a pivotal ice tray of the type above described in such a manner that the tray constitutes a single unitary structure.

A still further object of the invention relates to the method of coating an ice tray having an aluminum core with a brazing sheet having a melting point lower than that of the aluminum core.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherem:

FIGURE 1 is a pictorial view of a pivotal ice tray constructed in accordance withthe principles of the present invention which is shown as being pivotally mounted about a shaft extending through a side wall of a freezing compartment; 7

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the ice tray illustrated in FIGURE 1; v

FEGURE 3 is a plan view of the ice tray illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 showing a portion of the common Wall in horizontal sectiong FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view of the ice tray taken along lines IV-lV of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmental'horizontal sectional view taken along lines V-V of FIGURE 4 and showing a portion of the ice tray prior to brazing; 7

FIGURE 6 is a fragmental horizontal sectional view which is similar to FIGURE 5 but which shows a por tion of the ice tray subsequent to removal from the braz-i ing furnace; and

FIGURE 7 is an exploded view of the various components of the ice tray prior to assemblage and brazing thereof.

As shown most clearly in FIGURE l, a pivotal ice tray it is shown as being mounted on a shaft 11 for corotatable movement therewith which shaft is, in turn,

matically illustrated as bein connected to the input end of the shaft 11 and may be of any suitable type which can effect a preselected angular movement of the shaft 11 and tray 19 at preselected intervals of time.

Referring now particularly to FIGURES 1-4 in the drawings, the ice-tray comprises generally a confining wall 15 which has upwardly turned ends 16 and 17 formed integrally therewith and at opposite ends thereof and which is bent along its longitudinal aXis as at 18 to form two elongated oppositely facing legs 19 and 20.

A common wall 21 (so called because it is common to ice molds formed on opposite sides thereof as will hereinafter be more clearly described) constitutes an obtuse bisectrix of the elongated legs 19 and 20 and extends from the vertex 18 of those legs and is secured at opposite ends thereof to the upstanding end walls 16 and 17.

, The common wall 21 has elongated slots 22 formed therein which fit within grooves 23 formed in a plurality of equally spaced upstanding partitioning walls or fins 24, which in turn, seat upon the legs 19 and 20 and which serve to divide the ice tray 10 into a plurality of separate ice molds.

It will be understood that in the class of ice trays to which this invention is directed, it is desirable to form each of the components of the ice tray of aluminum or some similar material which is a good heat conductor inasmuch as ejection of ice blocks from a plurality of downwardly facing molds is effected by breaking the bond between those ice blocks and the walls of their respective molds by heat transmitted thereto through the walls of the ice tray from the relatively warm water filling an upwardly facing mold. Inasmuch as ejection of ice blocks from the ice tray is effected by means of heat transfer through the walls jof the ice tra'y I have found it desirable not only to construct the pivotal ice tray of a good heat conducting material but also to so form the ice tray that a large percentage of the ice blocks frozen in individual molds in the ice tray lie on surfaces adjacent the common wall 21. I have found that by so constructing the pivotal ice tray in the above manner the tendency of individual ice blocks to stick to the walls of their individual ice molds after filling of an upwardly facing mold is substantially eliminated. 7

To this end, in the preferred embodiment of the invention which is shown in the drawings and with particular reference to FIGURE 2 thereof, the confining wall 15 is so formed that the obtuse angle formed by legs 19 and 20 is substantially equal to or greater than 110". In this manner, by positioning the ice tray 10 within the freezing compartment of a refrigerator or the like with the elongated leg 20 disposed at approximately 40 with respect to the horizontal the ice block formed within the upwardlyfacingmold 25 will be disposed within that mold having approximately two-thirds of its base wall engaging surfaces disposed in juxtaposition to the common wall 21. Inthis mannerthe percentage of the base wall engaging surfaces of the ice blocks within their respective molds in the pivotal ice tray which must be melted by heat transferred through a relatively long conduction path, in a wall such as the wall 20 which is not common to an oppositely facing mold, is reduced to a minimum.

As shown most clearly in FIGURES 2 and 4, elongated retaining walls 27 and 28 are formed along the outer longitudinal edges of the legs 19 and 20 which lie substantially in planes parallel to the plane of the common wall 21 and which constitute drip retainers for containing drops of water running off ice blocks, such as the ice block 29, subsequent to the melting of the surfaces of those blocks for preventing this water from flowing to the ice block storage basket or the like and thereby preventing sticking of the ice blocks subsequent to their ejection into such a storage basket. 7

The edge portions of the partitioning walls 24 lie sub- 4 stantiall alon I lanes parallel but spaced from the planes of the edge po rt ions of the ends 16 and 17 of the plvotel ice tray but are intilrned and meet at a vertek bl} P a substantial distance from the outer longitudinal ed e the common wall 21.- Also, the edges Of the Pafiltlonmg walls are cut back adjacent the drip retainers so t Wam dripping off each of several ice blocks 1n a downwardly facing mold will be corningled with waterd pp from each of the other blocks. Furthermore, in oroer to facilitate gravitational ejc'tionof the frozen ice blocks from their respective molds the side walls of the fins Z4 i outwardly on each side (if each of the ice molds. 4

Thus, when water is directed to a single ice mold such as the ice mold 25 from a slug v'alve su c h as the dragrammatically illustrated slug valve .31 11; lilGIJRE 1 through a filler spout 32 fitted within the insulating wall 12 of the freezing compartment of the refrigeratoL- water will flow around the partitioning walls 24 in the; trough 33 formed intermediate the inturned edge portions of the partitioning walls 24 and the outer longitudinal ed the common wall 21 to thereby fill each of the upwardly facing molds communicable with the mold 25 throuh the troughs.

In View of the foregoing; the operation of a pivotal ice tray constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention would be substantially as follows: Assuming that the ice mold 26 is initially in an upwardly facing direction with the leg 19 disposed at approx'i:- mately 40 with respect to the horizontal the ice tray 1 could be rotated in a counterclockwise direction (as viewed in FIGURE 2) through the power source 13' until the ice tray was disposed in the position illustrated in FIGURE 2 wherein the leg 20 is disposed at an angle of approximately 40 with respect to the horizontal.' At such a time filling of the upwardly facing ice nieldsj might be effected through actuation of the slug valve 31; and fluid would then fiow from the filler spout 32 to the ice mold disposed thereunder and thence to each of the other upwardly facing molds through the troughs 33 so that relatively warm fluid would be disposed within each of the upwardly facing molds as shown in FIGURE 2. Heat would then be transmitted from the water in the upwardly facing molds through the common wall 21 to melt the surfaces of the ice blocks bonded thereto and would also be conducted through the partitioning walls 24 and the end walls 16 and 17 and further, through the legs 19 and 20 of the confining wall 15. I

Upon melting of the iceblocks within the respective downwardly facing molds the ice blocks would cease to adhere to the walls of the ice tray and would fall by the force of gravity, and in the manner shown in FIGURE 2, from the ice tray into a suitable storage basket. Drops Of water flowing from the surfaces of the ice blocks sub sequent to the melting thereof would flow to the drip retainer 27 where they would be retained and prevented from dripping to the ice block storage basket. p v

Upon freezing of the water in the upwardly facing molds 25 into ice blocks the cycle could again be initi ated and the ice tray might then similarly be rotated in a clockwise direction until the leg 19 was disposed at approximately 40 with respect to the horizontal. Upon; rotation of the ice tray in this manner the water disposed within the drip retainer 27 would flow back into the bottom of the individual upwardly facing ice mold where it would be again refrozen along with water flowing from the filler spout 32 into ice blocks.

In view of the fact that ejection of ice blocks from each of several downwardly facing molds is effected by means of heat transfer through the walls and partitions of theice tray, it is highly desirable to form the ice tray as one integral member so that maximum heat conduction through the tray may be elfected.

I have, accordingly, devised the following means for forming a unitary pivotal ice tray of thej'type illustrated and' described with respect to FIGURES 1-4.

Each of the members which cooperate to form the pivotal ice tray are preferably formed from aluminum stock since aluminum is a good heat conductor.

The aluminum stock which is employed to form the main shell of the tray is sheet aluminum stock having a laminar sheet or coating of an aluminum alloy on one surface thereof. This coating is commonly referred to as a brazing coating and is selected to have a lower melting temperature than aluminum. Preferably, the brazing coating is an aluminum silicon alloy. The substantially pure aluminum body provides a high heat transfer characteristic, while the brazing coating greatly facilitates fabrication of the tray. It has been noted that the additions to pure aluminum to make die casting possible greatly decreases its normally good heat transfer characteristic. Also the greater amount of metal in a cast tray requires more heat to heat up the mass to release the cubes. The present structure and its method of fabrication retains the good heat transfer characteristic of aluminum while at the same time a simple and etficient method of fabrication is provided.

The aluminum stock with its brazing coating is stamped and drawn to form the main confining wall in a manner which is illustrated in FIGURES 3, 4 and 7. The brazing coating is on the inner side of the tray shell. It is important to note that the corners formed at the junction of the legs 19, and the upstanding end walls 16 and 17 are not broken and soldered as is the usual practice in forming similar members but that these corners are formed by drawing the aluminum sheet so that the confining wall member including the end walls 16, 17 and the retaining walls 27 and 28 is one integral member.

The partitioning walls 24 are coined from brazing sheets, the brazing coating being on both sides of a substantially pure aluminum core. As illustrated in FIG- URES 2, 3, and 4, the walls 24 are relatively thick to provide for good heat transfer and tapering down from their midline outwardly and from their base up. An upstanding center groove 23 is provided along the midline on opposite faces.

The long'tudinal partition wall 21 is formed from a brazing sheet, the brazing coating being on both sides of a substantially pure aluminum core. This brazin sheet is relatively thin and the wall 21 may be stamped therefrom. The resulting stamping is in the form shown in FIGURE 7 and includes a plurality of slots 22 and ears 37 and 58. The partition wall 21 may be received within the grooves 23 formed in the partitioning walls 24. it is to be noted that the cars 37 and 38 are provided to facilitate the initial assembly of the tray components.

The several elements of the ice tray may be assembled by sliding the grooved portions of the partitioning walls 24 into the respective receiving slots 22 in the longitudinal partition wall 21 and thereafter positioning the longitudinal partition or common wall 21 and partitioning walls 24 in seated relation on the shell 15 in the manner illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4. The ears 37 and 38 may then be inserted through suitable receiving apertures 39 formed in the upper ends of the end walls 16 and 17 and bent thereover to hold the various elements in this assembled relation.

Thereafter, assembled components of the ice tray are placed in a brazing furnace and heated for a sufiicient period of time to cause brazing of the parts into a single structure. Any suitable flux is used such as one of the common fluoride fluxes. The brazing coating on the component parts, having a melting point substantially lower than the aluminum core, will melt and flow into the spaces formed between the several interconnected members to form fillets. In this manner each of the spaces formed between the several interconnected members will be filled with the brazing compound in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 6. When this filling of the spaces or crevices has been effected, and prior to melting of the aluminum core, the tray is withdrawn from the brazing furnace and allowed to cool. Inasmuch as the molten brazing compound tends to flow into the spaces and crevices in the ice tray, the fabricated ice tray is substantially an integral unitary structure having a high degree of thermal conductivity.

Since the brazing compound 34 constitutes the interconnecting means for each of the several members of the ice tray, it is important that this brazing compound, in addition to the aluminum core, be a relatively good thermal conductor and for this reason I have found it desirable to use a compound of aluminum such as a silicon aluminum compound for the brazing sheet the only other requisite for the brazing compound being that it have a melting point somewhat lower than the melting point of the aluminum core.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that I have set forth a two-sided pivotal ice tray and a method of making same which is so formed as to facilitate gravitational ejection of frozen ice blocks therefrom.

The ice tray is so formed that when properly disposed within the freezing compartment of the usual household refrigerator or the like, gravitational ejection of frozen ice blocks from downwardly facing molds will be facili tated due to the fact that approximately two-thirds of the base wall engaging surfaces of the ice blocks in the downwardly facing mold lie in juxtaposition to a wall which is common to the upwardly facing molds which, in turn, are adapted to be filled with relatively warm fluid.

The method of making the pivotal ice tray hereinbefore described is not at all obvious but is rather a means for forming such a pivotal ice tray into one integral structure to increase the thermal conductivity of each of the many ice block engaging surfaces of the pivotal ice tray.

It will, of course, be understood that this embodiment of the invention has been used for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications and variations in the present invention may be effected Without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an ice making apparatus an ice tray comprising an elongated fluid confining wall bent along its longitudinal axis and having first and second wall portions adjoining at the longitudianl axis thereof, a common wall constituting an obtuse bisectrix of said first and second walls secured to said confining wall and extending from the longitudinal axis thereof, spaced partitioning walls disposed on opposite sides of said common wall and secured to said confining wall for forming individual ice molds, drip retaining means formed along the longitudinal edges of said confining wall, means for filling an upwardly facing mold formed by the said walls with fluid, and means for pivoting said ice tray to position at least one of the ice molds in an upwardly facing direction for filling thereof in such a manner that the common wall is disposed at an angle of less than 40 with respect to the horizontal.

2. In an ice making apparatus, an ice tray comprising a fluid confining wall, a common Wall secured to said confining wall intermediate the longitudinal edges of said confining Wall, spaced partitioning walls disposed on op confining wall, spaced partitioning walls disposed on.

opposite sides of said common Wall and secured to said confining wall for forming individual ice molds, said common and confining walls being formed of heat conducting materials, means vfor filling the upwardly facing molds formed by the said walls with liquid, and means positioning said ice tray with said common Wall disposed at an angle with respect to the horizontal of less than 40.

4. In an ice making apparatus, an ice tray comprising an elongated fluid confining wall bent along its longitudinal axis and having first and second wall portions adjoining at the longitudinal axis thereof, a common wall constituting an obtuse bisectrix of said first and second wall secured to said confining wall and extending from the longitudinal axis thereof, spaced partitioning walls disposed on oppositesides of said common wall and secured to said first and second wall portions of said confining wall for forming individual ice molds, means for filling the upwardly facing molds formed by the said walls with liquid, and means positioning said ice tray with said common wall closer to the horizontal than the wall portion of said tray defining an upwardly facing mold.

5. In an ice making apparatus, an ice tray comprising an elongated liquid confining wall bent along its longitudinal axis and having first and second wall portions adjoining at the longitudinal axis thereof, a common wall constituting an obtuse bisectrix of said first and second walls secured to said confining wall and extending from the longitudinal axis thereof, spaced partitioning walls disposed on opposite sides of said common wall and secured to said first and second wall portions for forming individual ice molds, wherein each of said walls is formed of ,aheat conducting material, means for filling the up- ,wardly facing molds formed by the said walls with liquid, and means positioning said ice tray with said common wall disposed at an angle of less than with respect to the horizontal.

6. In an ice making apparatus, an ice tray comprising an elongated fluid confining wall bent along its longitudinal axis and having first and second wall portions adjoining at the longitudinal axis thereof, a common wall constituting an obtuse bisectrix of said first and second walls secured to said confining wall and extending from the longitudinal axis thereof, the acute angle being formed by said first and said second walls being equal to or greater than spaced partitioning walls disposed on opposite sides of said common wall and secured to said confining wall for forming individual ice molds, and means positioning said ice tray formed by the said walls with said common wall disposed at an angle of less than 40 with respect to the horizontal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,072,601 Miner Mar. 2, 1937 2,170,592 Miner Aug. 22, 1939 2,207,596 Newill July 9, 1940 2,386,889 Furry Oct. 16, 1945 2,407,058 Clum Sept. 3, 1946 2,458,183 Manning Jan. 4, 1949 2,602,413 Miller July 8, 1952 2,606,427 Kirkpatrick Aug. 12, 1952 2,771,749 Miller Nov. 27, 1956 2,778,198 Heath Ian. 22, 1957 

